Heddle frames



Unitd States Pat t HEDDLE FRAMES John J. Kaufmann, Jenkintown, Pa., assignor to Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 19, 1954, Serial No. 470,024

2 Claims. (Cl. 139-92) This invention relates to heddle frames, and it relates more particularly to improved means for supporting, in-

termediate their ends, the rods and bars used in such frames for mountin'g the lieddl'es therein. 9

Heretofore the heddle frames most commonly used in looms for weaving ordinarily consisted of top and bottom railsmade of wood, connected at their ends by end struts, and having mounted therein rods or bars upon which the heddles were mounted.

Originally, the heddle rods were usually supported, intermediate their ends, from the inneredges of the .top and bottom rails by screw eyes mountedin said rails at spaced locations.

However, such construction was objectionable in that considerable wear occurred between the screw eyes and the heddle rods, and also the heddles were not free to pass the screw eyes. This sometimes caused the heddles to bunch together on one side or the other of a screw eye, resulting in warp streaks in the cloth which was being woven in the loom.

Recourse was then had to what were known as slide hooks to support the heddle rods intermediate their ends. These slide hooks comprised devices which were slidably mounted on auxiliary rods, which in turn were supported from the inner edges of the rail or shaft by screw eyes or hooks, or other similar devices.

During the past few years there have been developed heddle frames in which the top and bottom rails or shafts are made of a relatively light metal such as an alloy of aluminum or magnesium, which usually are formed by extrusion in dies of the desired shape in cross-section.

Since the advent of loom harness frames in which the top and bottom rails or shafts are made wholly or partly of extruded metal, various devices have been suggested for the purpose of supporting the auxiliary rods, and also the heddle rods, from the inner edges of the rails.

The present invention relates more particularly to improved and novel means for supporting the auxiliary rods, or, if desired, the heddle rods, from the inner edges of the rails. r

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficient device for supporting the rods of heddle frames intermediate their ends.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device of the character aforesaid in which wear of the parts will be reduced to a minimum.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device of the character aforesaid which is particularly adaptable for use in loom harness frames in which the top and bottom rails or shafts are made wholly or partly of extruded metal.

The nature and characteristic features of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a loom harness frame having rod supporting devices therein embodying the main features of the present invention;

2,874,726 Patented F eb 24, 1959 Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a portion thereof, enlarged, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the improved devices, further enlarged, for supporting the rods intermediate their ends, the same being shown detached.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawing herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure and arrangement shown without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the top and bottom rails 'or shafts 10 of the frame therein shown are connected at their ends by means of end struts 11, which maybe of any of the preferred forms of such struts, for example,

as shown, the same may consist of wooden strips 12,

reinforced on their sides by metal strips 13 and 14, the ends of which are bent over and secured to the rails in any preferred manner.

The heddles 15 are of any of the preferred forms of heddles at present in common use, having central warp eyes 16 for the control of the warp threads passing there through, and being mounted at the top and bottom respectively, on the heddle rods 17 in the usual manner.

As shown, the heddle rods may be secured at their ends by spring members 18 which are secured .on the inner faces of the inner reinforcing strips 13 of the 'end struts.

-It should, however, be understood that any preferred means for supporting the ends of the heddle rods 17 may be employed as may be desired.

The top and bottom rails of the frame are preferably made in their entirety of extruded metal shapes the body portions of which are made hollow to reduce the weight, and each rail 10 is essentially provided, on the inner edge portion at least, with a longitudinal groove extending from end to end of the frame. Each of said grooves may comprise a slot 20 adjacent the inner face of the rail, and an enlarged internal portion 21.

A similar groove may be provided along the outer edge portion of the rail for the purpose of mounting the parts (not shown) for connecting the actuating cords or straps to the frame, but this is not essential to the present invention.

The provision of the enlarged interior 21 of the groove provides shoulders 22 for properly positioning therein the devices, to be presently described, for supporting the auxiliary supporting. rods 23 adjacent the inner edges of the rails.

As shown in the drawing, the means for supporting the heddle rods 17 intermediate their ends may comprise slide hooks 19 of any preferred form such, for example, as are shown and described in my previous Letters Patent No. 2,252,183.

The slide hooks 19 are slidably mounted on the auxiliary supporting rods 23, which auxiliary rods 23 are in turn supported by bracket members 25, illustrated more particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the same comprising the principal novel portion of the present invention.

Each of the bracket members is preferably made from a strip of thin flat steel or the like, shaped and formed to provide a loop like pocket 26 through which an auxiliary rod 23 extends. The auxiliary rod 23 is confined in the pocket 26 by inwardly extending shoulders 27.

The side or leg portions of the bracket member 25 then extend flaringly outward as at 28, and thence extending substantially vertically as at 29 through the slot 20 along the inner edge of the rail.

The side or leg portions of the bracket member 25 again extend flaringly outward as at 30, and then vertically as at 31, and have their end portions bent over as at 32. The above arrangement serves to provide a head portion for the bracket member 25 which is seated in the enlarged, interior 21 of the. groove. provided along the inner edge of each rail or shaft 10.

The bracket members 25 are inserted in the groove on the inner edges of the railgprior to assembly of the end struts with respect to the rails and then are therein confined;.and the Width of each bracket member 25 is. such as to provide an adequate bearing surface whereby wear is reduced to a minimum.

However, the bracket members are preferably initially shaped and so tensioned whereby the front and rear faces of. the leg portions thereof will engage the inner faces of the groove with the desired amount of friction, which serves to restrain the bracket members 25 against undesirable longitudinal movement in the frame.

Iclaim:

1. In a loom harness frame having top and bottom rails each provided with a groove open along its inner longitudinal edge, said grooves each including a narrow slotv open on the. inner edge of the rail and having an enlarged interior, said slotand said enlarged interior each having flat side faces, the means for supporting longitudinal rods in the frame intermediate their ends comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced bracket members each consisting of a flat metallic strip bent and shaped to provide a loop like pocket for the reception of the rod and having separate legs each extending through the slot in the rail and into the enlarged interior of the groove, said legs also being bent and shaped to provide a headlike portion disposed in the enlarged interior of the groove, said legs having fiat faces engaging the flat side facesof the slot and of the enlarged interior of. the groove.

2. In a loom harness. frame having top and bottomrails each provided with a groove open along its inner longitudinal edge, said grooves each including a narrow slot open on the inner edge of the rail and having an enlarged interior, said slot and said enlarged interior each having fiat side faces, the means for supporting longitudinal rods in the frame intermediate their ends comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced bracket members each consisting of a fiat metallic strip bent and shaped to provide a loop like pocket for the reception of the rod and having separate legs each extending through the slot in the rail and into the enlarged interior of the groove, said legs also being bent and shaped to provide a head like portion disposed in the enlarged interior of the groove, said'legs having flat faces engaging the fiat side faces of the slot and of the enlarged interior of the groove, and said strip being tensioned to spread said legs to provide frictional resistance where the fiat facesthereof engage the inner fiat faces of the groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,866,908 Robertson July 12, 1932 2,645,251 Haenny July 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 273,917 Switzerland June 1, 1951 834,737 France Aug. 29, 1938 976,884 France Nov. 1, 1950 

